Sadhana

Among many spiritual practices, there is one word that stands out as authentic.  This word is Sadhana.  To me, it means a practice that one does on a daily basis to hold and honor the inner light that we all have.  It can be as simple as repeating a prayer, a mantra for a specific number of times.  It can be taking five conscious breaths the moment you wake up and then again in the evening just before you lay your head on the pillow.  It can be more complex as doing a particular meditation at the same time every day of the week.  Each of these activities carry there own individual benefits.

All religions at one time or another have built their faith on a daily practice as a testament of their faith.  The Sikhs are known to rise at four am and take a cold shower to start their day.  The Catholics use to refrain from eating meat on Fridays.  The Orthodox Jews carry on their lives through a well-traveled,  very specific way of living as their ancestors did before them.

Sadhana, as a rule, divides the disciplined from the undisciplined.  Who does this “act” for their divinity or for the divinity that is before them; on an altar or in a temple?   If asked by one of my yoga students what is it that they could do in a daily practice that would be considered as “doing sadhana”, I caution them to start off with something small.

My Guru told certain students to do a particular sadhana anywhere from 30 days to one year, and if they forgot to do it for one day, then they had to start all over again.

In summary, it is a mystical, spiritual practice that is done on a daily basis that fuels the desire of an individual for the divine and increases their awareness.

Swami Laxman Das Jaya aka John Shinavier, MA, 500hr RYT